Somehow, by accident or by design, Kangana Ranaut finds herself in the controversy a bit too much than is healthy for a star. This time, she found herself in the midst of one controversy and before that could get sorted, another controversy erupted.

It began when the teaser and poster of Simran got released. Writer Apurva Asrani (Aligarh, Shahid) got the 'Story, Screenplay and Dialogues' credit but right before him, Kangana Ranaut got the 'Additional Story and Dialogues' credit. A buzz developed in B-Town that Apurva was short-changed by Hansal Mehta and team. Soon enough, he took to Facebook to vent.

In his FB post, Apurva Asrani alleged that Kangana Ranaut hijacked Simran from him. "Ms Ranaut has been claiming in several interviews that Hansal Mehta, the director of Simran, approached her with just a one line screenplay of the film. She says that they story was dark and gritty thriller at that stage and that she herself developed it into a light, fun film. This completely discredits me and my efforts, and I have to call out this lie at the cost of so many of her fans turning against me. Those that know me will know that I have always strived for the truth, and that is more important to me than a hit film (sic)," Apurva wrote.

Apurva went on to add that he took suggestions from Kangana Ranaut and Hansal Mehta while working on the script, of which he wrote nine drafts, but at no point did Kangana mention that she did not like the tone or the direction of the screenplay. But after the first cut of the film was done, Hansal Mehta told Apurva, "Kangana is turning director and therefore has demanded a co writer credit (sic)."

He ends his post by saying that Hansal Mehta and producer Shailesh Singh arm-twisted him into giving Kangana Ranaut a co-writer credit. "I also wish that my dear friend Hansal shows some spine and either refutes or endorses my story," Apurva wrote.

Part 2: Apurva Turns Villain

As public opinion began to corner Kangana Ranaut, producer Shailesh Singh hit back at Apurva.

"I have worked with Apurva on two of his biggest films - Shahid and Aligarh. Apurva has a legal document in his possession signed by all parties - Kangana, Hansal, Mehta, the producers and himself wherein he agrees to the credits given by us," Shailesh said adding that the writer wrote the Facebook post to create controversy.

Then, a SpotboyE.com report said that a source close to Simran's makers told the website that Apurva had pulled off a credit-hijacking stunt during the making of Aligarh. The source said that Ishani Banerjee had written Aligarh and that Apurva Asrani created a situation where Hansal Mehta had to give Apurva the writing credit.

"Ishani Banerjee had written Aligarh, and mind you she did a beautiful job. At that instance, Apurva demanded from Hansal that Ishani should be sacked. He made it so unpleasant that Ishani chose to bow down and exited without creating any drama," the source said. However, when contacted, Ishani said that Aligarh was a "smooth process."

This was followed by screenwriter Sameer Gautam taking to Facebook to allege that Apurva Asrani robbed him of his glory during the making of Shahid.

"Let me start by saying that I am the writer of Shahid that no one in the industry knows about except my team and my Director (sic)," Sameer began.

Sameer said that he was involved with the script of Aligarh and the final completed film for up to four years. He wrote that after the completion of the first cut, Apurva Asrani began insisting for a 'Screenplay' credit.

"He (Hansal Mehta) did not want to lose either of us (Sameer and Apurva). As much as he fought for me, he finally gave in to Apurva's demands and agreed to give him the credit. Hansal Sir felt sorry towards me, but I was clear that I will not continue to work for/ with him if he has Apurva in his team from thereon. It was difficult but jo sahi hai, usmein sochna kya?(If it's right, there's nothing left to think!). I come from small town in India, that's just how we're made," Sameer wrote.

Right after Sameer, a Mumbai-based filmmaker Jaydeep Sarkar spoke up. Turns out, Apurva Asrani apparently worked as part of the technical crew for Jaydeep's film. During promotions, as the film got publicity mostly because of the actors, an irate Apurva apparently began badmouthing Sameer on Facebook.

"Apurva lost the plot in the most undignified manner, putting out long Facebook posts calling me names. As if I had done this by design. We work in an industry where our reputation is currency. To be hit where it hurts most, without any malice from my end, was a rude shock. It was the facebook equivalent of a 'gully fight', when he could have just picked up the phone and spoken to me about it. Not like I knew what else I could have done except calling the film 'Apurva Asrani' to shine the spotlight on him. When I did confront him, he was on the back-foot and responded by deleting the post. But the damage was done," Jaydeep wrote.

Part 3: Kangana Ranaut Speaks

Finally with voices rising against Apurva Asrani, from Shailesh Singh to Sameer Gautam to Jaydeep Sarkar, the two remaining big players, Kangana Ranaut and Hansal Mehta, just had to speak. And they did.

First up, Kangana Ranaut. In a revelatory interview with Huffington Post, Kangana Ranaut said that Hansal Mehta came to her with the idea of adapting the real-life story of a "woman who took to a life of crime." She added that Apurva's story was a "dark thriller about a drug-addict who goes into a life of crime". Kangana found the screenplay to not have much commercial value and asked Apurva to tweak it to a more fun, accessible space.

"Actors always want to be blown away by a dazzling script. When that's not the case, you need to fix it. When I started collaborating with Apurva, I realised this isn't a writer who matches my expectations. And when I enquired about his previous writing work, I realised he hadn't done them," Kangana Ranaut said.

Apurva reportedly wrote nine drafts of the film but both Kangana and Hansal were unhappy with them. Finally, Kangana Ranaut says that she reworked the screenplay adding the "divorcee angle" and the "love story" in addition to making the protagonist a Gujarati housekeeper.

The most intriguing part of the interview was that according to Kangana Ranaut, Apurva apparently threatened her.

"When we had the conversation about sharing credits, he lost it completely and drove everyone insane. This was when the nepotism controversy had broken and this man tells me, 'Do you really need another controversy?' It was a threat. Basically he was saying if I don't shut up, he'll go ahead and tarnish my image as a 'trouble-maker' which is exactly what he has done despite getting the credit," Kangana said.

Part 4: Hansal Mehta Speaketh

Within minutes of the Kangana Ranaut interview going public, Hansal Mehta released a statement on his Twitter account. Without taking names, the director wrote that he did make compromises while making his films but he made them for the sake of "my film".

"Yes I am guilty. Guilty of crediting individuals who contribute to making my films very special to many of us," he began.

Hansal Mehta's statement:

Part 4: Twist In The Tale

As a narrative began to emerge around Apurva, Kangana and Hansal which hinted at a colossal misunderstanding, director Ketan Mehta entered the picture.

Turns out that Ketan Mehta (Mangal Pandey: The Rising) had been working on a biopic of Rani Lakshmibai with Kangana Ranaut for quite some time.

Soon, according to Ketan, he got admitted to the hospital for a surgery. When he was discharged, he got to know of Manikarnika, a new biopic of Rani Lakshmibai, that is supposed to star Kangana and is being directed by Krrish.

Ketan Mehta yesterday sent a legal notice to Kangana Ranaut alleging that the actor hijacked his project.

"10 years of my research, data and creative inputs on the project... I had shared it all with her... how was I to know it would all be vandalised so mercilessly? What she did was hijack 10 years of my hard work," Ketan Mehta told The Quint.

As of now, Ketan Mehta's lawyer is handling the matter.

Part 5: The Epilogue

Apurva Asrani put up a Facebook post an hour ago. There is no new revelation as such but Apurva insists that director Hansal Mehta is to blame for this fiasco.

"If five years later, the writer gets up and cries foul, then it means just one thing: that the director didn't really have his consent. Blaming the 'additional writer' now is like blaming the 'other woman' in a marriage soured. The problem is with the husband, no?," Apurva wrote.